Grabbing the employee benefits: Establishing the employer-employee relationship between ride-sharing companies and their drivers

• Main Authors: Gayares, Miguel Luis Garcia, Untalan, Royce Vincent Dimayuga
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Ridesharing—Law and legislation; Automobile drivers—Legal status, laws, etc.; Employee fringe benefits—Law and legislation; Industrial relations; Labor laws and legislation; Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_law/6; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=etdm_law
• Institution: De La Salle University

The “Sharing Economy” model has become a popular business trend worldwide, especially in third-world countries such as the Philippines. This particular business model gave way to some of the most availed service-oriented applications such as Airbnb, Uber, Task Rabbit, and many more. In South East Asia, especially in the Philippines, one of the most popular “sharing economy” businesses is the ride-hailing platform application known as Grab, which, since its launch, has been the most convenient option for commuters locally. As the only ride-hailing application where users can conveniently book a car for themselves, Grab also has a monopoly on the industry since its competitor, Uber, has been bought out of the country a few years after it launched. While its convenience to commuters cannot be denied, Grab’s business model still raises a red flag. It creates labor-oriented issues, which focus mainly on its employer-employee relationship with its drivers. This employer-employee relationship issue between Grab and its drivers has been primarily left undefined; hence, there is a need to answer the employment status issue based on current laws and jurisprudence, especially in light of changing and evolving business practices such as the “Sharing Economy” model in the 21st century. This study then aims to answer Grab's pressing labor issues, an employer using the sharing economy business model, and its primary workforce for its line of business, the partner-drivers. Specifically, this study will answer the existence of the employer-employee relationship between the two parties and the employment status of the partner-drivers engaged by Grab, since there is a pressing need to address and study emerging business trends and practices in relation to current laws and available jurisprudence such as in the case presented here.